Luke 9 (New American Standard)

Ministry of the Twelve

1 ¹And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. 2 And He sent them out to ²proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. 3 And He said to them, "³Take nothing for your journey, ⁴neither a staff, nor a ^abag, nor bread, nor money ; and do not even have ^btwo tunics apiece. 4 "Whatever house you enter, stay there ^cuntil you leave that city. 5 "And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, ⁵shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them." 6 Departing, they began going ^dthroughout the villages, ⁶preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. 7 ⁷Now ⁸Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was happening ; and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that ⁹John had risen from the dead, 8 and by some that ¹⁰Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen again. 9 Herod said, "I myself had John beheaded ; but who is this man about whom I hear such things ?" And ¹¹he kept trying to see Him. 10 ¹²When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done. ¹³Taking them with Him, He withdrew by Himself to a city called ¹⁴Bethsaida. 11 But the crowds were aware of this and followed Him; and welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing.

Five Thousand Fed

12 Now the day ^ewas ending, and the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the crowd away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get ^fsomething to eat ; for here we are in a desolate place." 13 But He said to them, "You give them something to eat !" And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people." 14 (For there were about five thousand men.) And He said to His disciples, "Have them ^gsit down to eat ¹⁵in groups of about fifty each." 15 They did so, and had them all ^hsit down. 16 Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and broke them, and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the ⁱpeople. 17 And they all ate and were satisfied ; and ^jthe broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve ¹⁶baskets full. 18 ¹⁷And it happened that while He was ¹⁸praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, "Who do the ^kpeople say that I am ?" 19 They answered and said, "John the Baptist, and others say Elijah ; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again." 20 And He said to them, "But who do you say that I am ?" And Peter answered and said, "¹⁹The ^lChrist of God." 21 But He ^m20warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone, 22 ²¹saying, "²²The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day." 23 And He was saying to them all, "²³If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 "For ²⁴whoever wishes to save his ⁿlife will lose it, but whoever loses his ^olife for My sake, he is the one who will save it. 25 "For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and ²⁵loses or forfeits himself ? 26 "²⁶For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 "But I say to you truthfully, ²⁷there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God."

The Transfiguration

28 ²⁸Some eight days after these sayings, He took along ²⁹Peter and John and James, and ³⁰went up on the mountain ³¹to pray. 29 And while He was ³²praying, the appearance of His face ³³became different, and His clothing became white and ^pgleaming. 30 And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, 31 who, appearing in ^qglory, were speaking of His ³⁴departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and his companions ³⁵had been overcome with sleep ; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him. 33 And as ^rthese were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, "³⁶Master, it is good for us to be here ; ³⁷let us make three ^stabernacles : one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah "-³⁸not realizing what he was saying. 34 While he was saying this, a cloud ^tformed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 Then ³⁹a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "⁴⁰This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!" 36 And when the voice ^uhad spoken, Jesus was found alone. And ⁴¹they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen. 37 ⁴²On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him. 38 And a man from the crowd shouted, saying, "Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my ^vonly boy, 39 and a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth; and only with difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves. 40 "I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not." 41 And Jesus answered and said, "You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here." 42 While he was still approaching, the demon ^wslammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. 43 And they were all amazed at the ^x43greatness of God. ⁴⁴But while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, 44 "Let these words sink into your ears ; ⁴⁵for the Son of Man is going to be ^ydelivered into the hands of men." 45 But ⁴⁶they ^zdid not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.

The Test of Greatness

46 ⁴⁷An argument ^aastarted among them as to which of them might be the greatest. 47 But Jesus, ⁴⁸knowing ^bbwhat they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, 48 and said to them, "⁴⁹Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; ⁵⁰for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great." 49 ⁵¹John answered and said, "⁵²Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name ; and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow along with us." 50 But Jesus said to him, "Do not hinder him; ⁵³for he who is not against you is ^ccfor you." 51 When the days were approaching for ⁵⁴His ^ddascension, He ^eewas determined ⁵⁵to go to Jerusalem ; 52 and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the ⁵⁶Samaritans to ^ffmake arrangements for Him. 53 But they did not receive Him, ⁵⁷because ^ggHe was traveling toward Jerusalem. 54 When His disciples ⁵⁸James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to ⁵⁹command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" 55 But He turned and rebuked them, [^hhand said, "You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; 56 for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."] And they went on to another village.

Exacting Discipleship

57 ⁶⁰As they were going along the road, ⁶¹someone said to Him, "I will follow You wherever You go." 58 And Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the ⁱⁱair have ^jjnests, but ⁶²the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." 59 And He said to another, "⁶³Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." 60 But He said to him, "Allow the dead to bury their own dead ; but as for you, go and ⁶⁴proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God." 61 Another also said, "I will follow You, Lord ; but ⁶⁵first permit me to say good-bye to those at home." 62 But Jesus said to him, "⁶⁶No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."